Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) yesterday urged Minister of Education Chiang Wei-ling (蔣偉寧) to fulfill his promise to make native languages a mandatory course at junior-high schools or step down if he fails to do so.
“Chiang made the promise several times at legislative meetings in October last year, and was even berated by several members of the national curriculum outlines adjustment committee at a meeting on Nov. 11 for making a hasty decision before the conclusion of public deliberations on the new curriculum, as required by law,” Chen said.
Chen added that Chiang should resign if he broke his vow to make native-language courses — which are currently optional — mandatory, with classes being held at least once a week.
Photo: CNA
According to the ministry’s timeline, nine public hearings on the draft curriculum are to be held later this month. A final version is due to be published in July, one month before the 12-year national education program takes effect in August. It will officially implemented in 2018.
The 12-year program will make three years of senior-high school part of the compulsory system of education.
A member of the committee who requested anonymity said that the committee’s main task was to decide the number of class hours allocated to each course.
“There is really no way we can squeeze in an extra hour for native-language courses if we are to follow the rule of not increasing the total number of class hours,” the member said.
“The aim of the 12-year program is to put more emphasis on personalized learning, which is why we have refrained from increasing class hours for mandatory courses. Students can then have more time to choose subjects that interest them,” the member said.
Although the draft curriculum still marks native languages as an elective, it lists the mother tongues of “new immigrants” as the nation’s fourth native language other than Taiwanese (also known as Hoklo), Hakka and Aboriginal languages, the member said.
This means that children of “new immigrants” — mainly foreign spouses from China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines — are now given the choice of learning their parents’ native language.
Taiwanese Mother Language League director-general Chou Ching-yu (周清玉) said she believed Chiang would honor his promise, as he risks offending many language teachers and pro-localization groups who have been closely following the issue if he does not.
When asked for comment yesterday, Chiang said he would make every effort to deliver on his pledge.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS